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Super League match preview: Huddersfield Giants v Catalan Dragons

Last Updated: 28/06/13 3:32pm

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Luke George: The Academy graduate is back in the Huddersfield squad

Second plays fifth as Huddersfield Giants face Catalan Dragons in a Super League clash on Friday.

The Giants will be buoyed by their crushing 40-18 win over Leeds at the John Smiths' Stadium on Sunday whilst Catalans will hope to lift themselves following their narrow defeat at home to Hull KR last Saturday.

Giants head coach Paul Anderson makes just one change to his 19-man squad to face the Dragons with winger Luke George returning in place of Matty Dawson.

The Huddersfield boss wants his players to keep their focus and ignore the standings, despite the fact they haven't been out of the top three all year.

"If you start looking at the league table, then you start losing sight of what's important," he said.

"We will start looking at the table after 27 rounds. However, that then becomes irrelevant as we need to rip in again as the league becomes a knockout competition."

One alteration

Similarly, there is only one alteration to the Dragons 19 as Laurent Frayssinous brings in Julian Bousquet to fill the void left by Jamal Fakir, who picked up an injury in the late loss to Rovers.

There is no place yet for new signing Elliott Whitehead, who has arrived from Bradford, while Frayssinous has added prop Julian Bousquet to his squad.

The Dragons will be hoping to stay strong for the whole 80 minutes as late lapses have cost them in recent weeks. They lost to a late try last weekend and conceded a last-gasp penalty at Widnes earlier in the month, meaning they had to settle for a point.

Subsequently, what could have been three wins on the bounce has become a win, a draw and a loss.

The Giants, meanwhile, have emerged victorious in five of their last six games and will aim to close the gap on leaders Wigan to a solitary point with a win.